Huntington Bank taps Fleak to lead community post

March 9, 2013

PARKERSBURG - Parkersburg native Mike Fleak will be taking on an expanded role for Huntington Bank in the Parkersburg area after being named Friday as the community president for the bank's local operations.

Fleak will continue his role as general manager of the bank's local retail operation and will direct the community efforts and provide leadership for Huntington Bank's Parkersburg team. He will be located at the Huntington Bank branch office in Parkersburg at Fifth and Market streets.

"Mike is a native of Parkersburg, with a deep understanding of and close ties to the region," said Andrew Paterno, president for Huntington Bank in West Virginia. "We are delighted to have an accomplished executive like Mike, with an exceptional track record of success, serving Parkersburg as our community president. His extensive knowledge of Parkersburg enables our bank to enhance our community commitment to the area, as well as bolster our ability to provide exceptional services and products to individuals, families and businesses," he said.

Fleak has more than 22 years of banking and financial services experience with 16 years in the Parkersburg area. He has a bachelor's degree from Fairmont State University and is a graduate of the CNB Graduate School of Banking and several American Institute of Banking courses.

Fleak serves on the board of governors and chairs the marketing committee of the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation. He is a board member of the Parkersburg Area Roundtable and is the incoming president and board member for the Lions Club of Parkersburg.

Fleak said he is looking forward to continuing to work with his staff and the community to provide services through Huntington Bank, especially during the economic downturns of the last several years that have caused some larger banks to cut staffing.

"Huntington Bank continues to look at ways to retain its staff," Fleak said. "As a matter of fact, in Parkersburg, in my office, we're at the highest employment level ever. A lot of that has to do with the fact we've got double-digit new household growth. We grew 12 percent last year when a lot of banks were losing customers or a lot of banks were staying flat," he said.

"We're continually looking at opportunities to expand our ATMs and just make it easier for our customers to do banking," Fleak said.

Huntington Bank also wants to expand the ways it can serve its customers, from providing deposit banking services to offering insurance services, and from retirement services to lending functions, he said.

Fleak said another of his goals is to support small businesses in the Parkersburg area.

"If you've got small businesses, they are hiring. If you're hiring, you've got people employed and there's money flowing through the community. That's really what Huntington Bank is focused on, doing the right thing and helping small business grow," Fleak said.